As It Is in Heaven
by FFcrazy15
Summary: Fr. Mulcahy says goodbye to his boys at the CYO. Written in honor of a great man. Sort of a F*L*O*C*K 4077 piece, but not really.


Disclaimer: don't own, don't profit, no copyright infringement intended.

**M*A*S*H**

His black shoes squeaked on the scuffed hardwood, but the sound was very nearly drowned out by the pounding leather gloves on bags. He watched with a heavy heart as the boys joked and laughed with each other, their various medals sticking to their skin with sweat and each egging the others on.

"Boys!" he called out. Everyone stopped with their practice and turned, 'hey'ing and 'hello'ing the priest. "Boys, we- I think we need to have a little talk."

Glancing around at each other, the young men of the Philadelphia CYO gathered around their young priest. "Let's all sit down," he decided, and took a seat on the hardwood, crossing his legs. They all did the same.

"Father, what's going on?" one of them, James by name, said with confusion.

"Yeah, we in trouble or something?" another, this one named Lucas, asked.

"No, no, nothing like that." He hesitated, and then said, "I- I have something very difficult to tell all of you."

The twelve or so teenage boys' faces grew somber, and he felt a lump grow in his throat. "You know that… fighting has broken out in Korea, and troops are being sent over. Well…" He let out a low sigh through his nose. "The bishop has asked me to enter Basic Training, to go into the army as a military chaplain. And I have agreed to do so."

At least a dozen questions came flying at him as the boys realized what he was saying, and he held up a hand. "Please, one at a time."

"Father Francis, you can't mean you're actually going to Korea!" Jared, a young man with red hair and freckles, said, shocked.

"I do mean just that, Jared. I know this is difficult to accept, but-"

"You mean you're leaving us?" another, this a brunet, demanded.

"I'm afraid that yes, Caleb, I will be."

"You can't be serious!" Jared said vehemently, standing up. "What are we going to do without you? You're the best youth priest we've ever had!"

The others echoed this, and ducked his head, sighing. "I know, and I'll miss all of you dearly. But you have to realize that- that if God wants me in Korea, then I have to go. Please, try to understand…"

"You can't leave," a quieter voice said. Fr. Mulcahy's heart almost broke at that. Ignatius was a smaller, more timid boy that the rest, but the others had taken him un under their wing. He looked up to the priest like a second father. "Please, Father Francis, don't go."

"I'm so very sorry," he said softly. "To all of you."

"What if you don't come back?"

Lucas's question hung in the air, and for a long moment, nobody spoke. He couldn't find the right words to answer. In the end, all he could say was, "God's will must be done, Lucas."

Silence filled the gym, broken only by the whirring of the fans overhead. Finally, one of the oldest boys in the group, Mark, said quietly, "If it is really God's will, then he should go." He looked around at the others. "If God wants Father to go to Korea, then it's for a reason, right? The people there will need priests. It'd be selfish to keep him here when there are others who need him even more than we do." He looked back over at Fr. Mulcahy. "You've always told us to trust Him, to trust that God can bring good out of all things. If He wants you in Korea, then who are we to interfere with it?"

Mulcahy's eyes had misted over, and he took off his glasses, wiping them. "Thank you, Mark," he said thickly. "That- that means a great deal." He put them back on and stood up. The others followed his lead. "And he's right," he said, speaking again to all of them. "God has His reasons; after all, where were we when He laid the foundations of the earth?" There was a general sad chuckle to this, as they recognized the verse. "I'll miss you all dearly, but I have faith that He will provide. For all of us."

"We should pray," Mark said.

There was a general assent to this, and the thirteen of them gathered together in the gym. _"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name…"_

As they prayed together, Fr. Francis Mulcahy sent up a silent plea to God, to watch over his boys, and to help him make a difference with the people he'd meet, whoever they were, wherever they came from, whatever their situation.

_"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven…"_

Yes, Thy will be done… whether it be in Heaven, or Philadelphia, or even Korea.

** A/N: So this piece is in honor of my youth minister, who is leaving our group to go work somewhere else. He changed many of our lives and is one of the holiest men I know. Although our whole group is sad that he's leaving, we know that God has a purpose for it. If any of you folks are Christian, it'd mean a lot if you just said a quick prayer for him and our group.**

** God bless all of you!**

** -FFcrazy15**


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